38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the…
Posted by dwhetter |
Did you know that we are not born with full sight? Infants have sight, but not as most of us know it. A new born only sees in black and white and some shades of gray. Experts tell us that it usually takes about five months for an infant to begin to use both eyes together to see three-dimensionally and for the eyes to develop fully to be able to see full color. In essence, we learned to…
Posted by hlewis |
I grew up going to church every Sunday with my family. My dad was in the Army, so as we moved every few years we usually attended the Protestant service on the military post. We called ourselves EpiscoMethoBapTerian, as every year we’d have a pastor from a different denomination – so I feel pretty comfortable in most church services.
As I began to study how to be a choir director…
Posted by dwhetter |
I began my sermon last week by commenting that there was so much to talk about in that text, John 3:1-17, that to cover it all would have taken all day. Well, today, and for the next several weeks, the same is true. Our lectionary for this Lent is filled with powerful texts that offer incredible insight into not only who Jesus is, but also what is expected of us, his followers. So, allow…
Over the course of the past several months, as we have been talking a lot about our budget, our income, our expenses, our facilities, our need to raise money, et cetera, I have also been thinking much about what it means to be “the church.” Do you remember the popular rhyme: Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the door and see all the people? Growing up, I remember learning…
Posted by dwhetter |
Wow, there is so much going on in this text today that if you wanted me to attempt to address it all, you would have to cancel the rest of your plans for the day. There is the imagery of water and Spirit. There is the imagery of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness. There is the imagery of God’s Spirit being like the wind and blowing wherever and however it chooses. There is…
Dear Salem Family,
I have been reflecting the last week on the word busy. We are so busy with so many things. There is always something to do, and always something we need to do. I will admit, I love being busy. I love having a full calendar and seeing all kinds of people and being involved in all kinds of things. But, I’ve also learned that when I am that busy, sometimes I’m not always…
Posted by dwhetter |
The celebration is over. I know, it was fun to celebrate Christmas and even the Season of Epiphany where we talked about all those miracles Jesus did and heard about how God revealed Jesus to the world, but it is time to stop celebrating. It is time, now, to enter a period of journeying in the wilderness so that we might better understand the challenges we face in our lives and how we might…
Have you ever opened your stocked pantry or refrigerator and became frustrated because there wasn’t anything good to eat? Have you ever sat down at the dinner table and felt disappointed because you didn't like the meal that was being served? I asked our 7th-12th grade youth these questions at last weekends hunger lock-in and they all said this was a pretty regular occurrence in their households.…